Volkswagen’s next electric vehicle would be the ID.8
Without any surprise, Volkswagen is now focusing its efforts on the North American commercialization of electric vehicles and SUVs. In the immediate future, the emphasis is onID.4, which will show up in concessions across the country towards the end of the summer. Starting next year, this vehicle will be assembled at the assembly plant of Chattanooga, in Tennessee, in order to increase production. Once the table has been prepared with the ID.4, Volkswagen will then introduce a second electric SUV which will bear the designation ID.8.
If you are wondering why ID.8 and not ID.6, it is because a Volkswagen ID.6 already exists in the Chinese market. Unveiled last April at the Shanghai Auto Show, the ID.6, which can accommodate up to 6 passengers, seems to be positioned between a compact SUV and an intermediate SUV.
the Volkswagen ID.8 will therefore be much more imposing, with the flavor Atlas, in order to infiltrate the very popular segment of mid-size SUVs with three rows of seats. Remember that, at the time of this writing, no manufacturer of generalist brands yet offers a vehicle of its kind in the electric. You have to look to a Tesla Model X – a much more expensive vehicle – to get one.
The information in ID.8 comes directly to us from Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess. As part of a conference unveiling the brand’s future products, Mr. Diess confirmed that his company plans to market an electric SUV that will be the same size as an Atlas under the name ID.
Nothing is however clear as to its design, its technical characteristics, its price, but everything suggests that this mysterious electric SUV will be based on the manufacturer’s modular MEB architecture. It is this architecture that currently supports ID.4. And with the massive restructuring that the Chattanooga production plant is undergoing, it would come as no surprise to learn that the ID.8, too, is being built there.
Although Volkswagen has not mentioned when the ID.8 will market, it would be quite logical to assume that it will not show up until the end of 2022, when Volkswagens Passat and Arteon will have been withdrawn from the market, and that the electrical conversion of the Chattanooga plant will be completed.
